German Woman Raffles Off Luxury Villa

Trouble selling your house? Have you considered raffling it off? Don't laugh. One German woman made a $280,000 profit just by selling raffle tickets. We bet some homeowners who've had to unload their properties for a loss would love $280,000.

AP via SF Chronicle: When Traude Daniel couldn't find a buyer for her luxury villa in southern Austria, she decided to raffle it off. It turned out to be quite a success: 9,999 tickets priced at euro99 ($128) each sold out within days in early December to raise nearly euro990,000 ($1,280,000).

Daniel said the 400-square-meter (4,305-square-foot) house had an estimated value of about euro830,000 (about $1 million) and had been on the market for about half a year before she came up with the idea of advertising the raffle on a Web site.

Now several other homeowners struggling to unload their vacation properties are following suit.

The raffle has inspired several other home owners in Austria to try to sell their homes through lotteries as the country starts to feel the effects of the financial crisis. Experts are warning of a tough year ahead.

Juergen Tatscher, who is planning to raffle off his luxury mountain bungalow, said it's an ideal way to cover one's costs, if selling high-end property the regular way proves to be tough.